U.S. business equipment borrowings grow 6% in January – ELFA

Caterpillar machines are seen at a construction site in New York City, U.S., October 17, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Feb 24 (Reuters) – U.S. companies borrowed 6% more in January to finance equipment investments from a year earlier, industry body Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) said on Friday. "Business demand for equipment financing continues unabated despite uncertain and conflicting economic signals — inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, a hot labor market and easing supply chain disruptions," said ELFA Chief Executive Ralph Petta. Companies had signed up for new loans, leases and lines of credit worth $8.8 billion last month, compared with $8.3 billion a year earlier. New business volume, however, was down 32% month-on-month after the typical end-of-quarter, end-of-year spike in new business activity. ELFA, which reports economic activity for the $1 trillion equipment finance sector, said credit approvals were 75.1%, down from 76.6% in December. Washington-based ELFA’s leasing and finance index measures the volume of commercial equipment financed in the United States. The index is based on a survey of 25 members, including Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and financing affiliates or units of Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) , Dell Technologies Inc (DELL.N) , Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE) , Canon […]

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